Markets at all-time highs | Calamatta Cuschieri

Wall Street reached all-time closing highs on Monday as investor optimism was stoked by prospects of a speedier economic recovery from the global health crisis, driven by increased stimulus and an accelerated vaccine rollout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 237.52 points, or 0.76%, to 31,385.76, the S&P 500 gained 28.76 points, or 0.74%, to 3,915.59 and the Nasdaq Composite added 131.35 points, or 0.95%, to 13,987.64.

European shares rose on Monday, led by economically sensitive cyclical sectors, as sentiment was lifted by hopes of a quicker recovery and multi-billion dollar deals in the region. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3% adding to gains of 3.5% in the previous week.

Maltese markets meanwhile climbed, with the MSE Equity Total Return Index closing up 2.31 percent at 8,231.286 points after an active trading session. FIMBank Plc posted the largest gain with shares surging 22.22 percent to $0.44, followed by Midi Plc which gained 8.21 percent to €0.422. Medserv Plc meanwhile posted the largest drop with shares down 17.01 percent at 0.61.

Bitcoin surges on Tesla investment

Bitcoin extended gains on Tuesday to a record high as the afterglow of Tesla Inc’s investment in the cryptocurrency had investors reckoning it would become a mainstream asset class for both corporates and money managers. It climbed to a new peak of $48,216 late in the Asian afternoon on Tuesday. Rival cryptocurrency ethereum had struck a record high of $1,784.85 in the early morning.

Bitcoin has more than doubled over two months as institutional investors search for alternative wealth stores and retail traders ride the wave. Monday’s leap after Tesla’s announcement was its largest daily rise in more than three years.

Shares of companies that provide trading platforms for bitcoin and the technology to “mine” the cryptocurrency surged in China, South Korea, and Australia, and big computer chip making companies such as SK Hynix also rose.
 

Source: Reuters

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